Meet Our CEO
Dr. Xun Wang
Dr. Xun Wang, President, and CEO of Triton, is a leading biotechnology executive in the algae industry and a thought leader in the future food market space. Before joining Triton, he was the head of bioscience technologies at Reliance Industries Ltd (a global Fortune 100 company), and the CTO at Sapphire Energy Inc. Dr. Wang has been a board member of Algae Biomass Organization since 2016.
Read Dr. Wang’s latest thoughts on Triton Algae Innovations:
Triton is an innovative San Diego-based future food ingredient company, whose primary focus has been on developing the next generation of microalgae-based ingredients using Chlamydomonas, which we call Hardtii. Through years of cutting-edge research and development, Triton has developed Hardtii into a robust superfood powerhouse by leveraging its natural diversity and creating an unprecedented, and IP-protected fermentation scale-up manufacturing process to produce these algae at an industrial scale.
Compositionally, Hardtii consists of approximately 50% protein and features a complete amino acid profile, 60% of which are essential amino acids. Hardtii is also rich in omega oil, including nine vitamins. Hardtii is the newest super-ingredient and boasts a “no questions” letter from the United States Food and Drug Administration (GRN 773), as to its status as Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) for its intended use in foods, as a replacement for dietary protein.
The alternative protein space is booming and is set for considerable additional growth, and given its IP-protected technology and production applications, Triton is poised to capitalize on that growth. With increasing constraints on natural resources, suitable farmland on the decline, and a troubled world economy, stable and efficient means of food production are growing more essential. A single fermentation plant on one acre of land can produce from 6000 to 9000 tons of Hardtii annually, far outpacing the production of legacy crops such as soy, for which even the best-yielding fields can produce approximately 1.5 tons of soybean annually.
At Triton, we not only believe that food has to be safe to eat, nutritious and affordable, but that ingredients have to look great, taste delicious and be easy to apply to finished food products. Our one-of-a-kind breeding and selection approach to generating novel strains of algae set us apart by providing the unique tools necessary to create "best-in-class" algae for various future food product applications.
Prior to joining Triton Algae Innovations, Dr. Wang had a successful 20-year career in several prominent agriculture companies. Dr. Wang was the President of Syngenta China, the Biotech Research and Technology Head of Syngenta in North Carolina RTP, the Founder and a Director of Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute in San Diego, and Research Manager of Corn Genomics in Pioneer Hi-Bred International, in Johnston Iowa. Dr. Wang is an author or co-author of over 50 patents, and has published over 20 international peer-reviewed research articles.
Dr. Wang earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Biophysics from Iowa State University, and a BS in Chemistry and a MS in Biochemistry from Jilin University, China.
Triton intends to launch its white variety of Hardtii in 2023. Its neutral color and taste give it the potential for use in a wide range of existing and new finished food applications. It has the ability to provide more protein and vitamins to everyday foods, including the potential to disrupt the booming plant-based milk market segment.
This year we are launching two varieties of Hardtii, one of which is green, and the other red. The green Hardtii is perfect for increasing protein content in applications such as pasta, noodles, protein drinks, and snacks. The red Hardtii was created through breeding and selection methods to enrich naturally occurring heme pathway compounds. Triton’s red algae provide authentic meat-like properties in alternative meat and seafood products.
Dr. Wang earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Biophysics from Iowa State University, and a BS in Chemistry and a MS in Biochemistry from Jilin University, China.
